Well, we're in (really) Hot Springs, Arkansas. Last night some of us went into town just to recon and plan today. But this is certainly the strangest national park we've ever been to, and one of the strangest towns. Half the town is all storefronts that look like they haven't operated in 50 years; the other half looks like Lake George threw up, all tourist kitsch and t-shirt shops. The national park is headquartered in an old bathhouse hotel, and the ranger is standing there behind the reception desk, welcoming you in a voice that sounds like you're checking into the hotel! Really, really weird. Backpacker magazine recently did a controversial article on what national parks we could stand to trade away in exchange for protecting other lands. This is the top of my list. It's not a "site" or "historic site", it's a National Park, the top of the food chain in the national park system. Ugh.
It's going to be close to the temperature of the surface of the sun here today. We are moving on to see the Okies in Muskogee (well, actually, the Cherokee) and are then moving on to the cool confines of Rocky Mountain National Park. Don't know if we'll have the Googles or the Interwebs in the next couple of places, but we'll see you soon!
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